


Dog Days

by DeterminationIsNotCrash



Category: Deltarune (Video Game), Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gaster Blaster (Undertale), Gaster Blaster Papyrus (Undertale), Gaster Blaster Sans (Undertale), Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-15 05:59:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18067898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeterminationIsNotCrash/pseuds/DeterminationIsNotCrash
Summary: Making a short movie for a competition proves harder than expected when Papyrus abruptly turns feral in the middle of filming.





	Dog Days

_Can-Do Studios_

Frisk clasped his hands together, his vigour infectious to the rest of the crew. “Alright! Just one last scene to go for _The Hellbeast of Hometown_! We’re almost done, and just three days before the competition submission deadline! Everyone, thanks for all your hard work!

“Sans, your directing was great. You did amazingly at putting my writing into a cinematic format! And I appreciate you having the guts (heh) to show yourself in that form onscreen.

“Chara, Napstablook, you two were awesome with handling the camera and sound capture.

“Asriel, your editing skills are superb! From the footage I’ve seen, it’s professional tier… no, BETTER than professional tier!

“Big thanks to Sean and Jerid for your excellent work as set designers, prop construction, AND makeup – I bet you two could fake someone’s death if you wanted to!

“Ral, Noel, you performed excellently – as expected of hard workers like you two!”

The black-furred goat took a bow. “I’m honoured to participate in this project! I was so excited, I glued my lines all around the house so I could rehearse everywhere! Even in the water closet!”

Noel puffed her chest out proudly. “Rehearsing until the wee hours of the early morning really paid off!”

Frisk clapped. “Now THAT’S dedication.” The writer then turned his attention to the other major actors. “Chris, Lance, Suzy… even though it was on short notice, you performed fabulously anyway. The three of you’ve got a knack for this! I hope you’ll in the future, even as just a hobby!

Chris had a rare small smile on his face. “Anything for my younger cousin.”

“And lastly, a huge thanks to all the extras for being background characters. When everyone pitches even a small amount in, the combined force can move mountains! All of you except the three ‘guards’ can go home now, your payment will be in your bank account ASAP.”

Once the extras left, the crew moved into the prison visiting room that Sean and Jerid made.

Frisk, Chara, and Napstablook set up the recording equipment, while the crew and actors got into position. Frisk grinned at his upperclassman. “Time for the final scene now – we’re ready for the big twist! You up for your ‘special effects’, Papyrus?”

The skeleton’s eyes sparkled. “Of course, always! Time for the great Papyrus to shine!”

Sans gave his brother a thumbs-up, a genuine grin spreading across his muzzle. “You’ve got this! Don’t worry, if things get ruff, I’ll lend a paw!”

Sans was still in a half-Blaster form – shapeshifting into his true state was easy to perform, but difficult to reverse. It took at least seven days to revert from this midway stage to his ‘human’ form, and at least fourteen days to revert from his full transformation.

It took consistent focus to revert, and the short-statured young man didn’t really care to put the effort in, so he’d be part-beast until the situation called for it. “Okay, actors ready?”

Everyone nodded.

“Then let’s begin. Camera 1?”

“Ready!”

“Camera 2?”

“Ready.”

“Sound?”

“Ready…”

“ _GOOD_! Scene 9, Shot 1, Take 1! Action!”

At the drop of the button, Chris’ personality changed – it was almost scary how quickly and convincingly he could do it. The young man cried tears of joy as he clung to the skeleton and poured out his heart.

Papyrus wished he could hug the human back and comfort him… but that wasn’t what Frisk wanted him to do.

Summoning up the most wicked expression he could, he let his horns and fangs emerge. With venom in his voice, he recited his lines. “I know… I know how it feels. Like you’re being toyed with by someone above you, slowly losing everything. You put all your effort into one last attempt to reach out, but are stomped on and crushed beneath a cruel boot… I know all too well.”

Seeing Chris so scared broke Papyrus’ heart. The boy whimpered and tried to escape, but true to the skeleton’s lines on the script, he lightly wrapped his arms around the human, shaking his arms to give the illusion of a vice-like grip.

“Kris!” Ral and the extras ran towards the duo, but Papyrus swiped his tail at them.

On this cue, everyone plastered themselves to the wall, the fake blood packets beneath their clothes bursting and soaking everything in red.

 _Wowie… So realistic! Jerid and Sean are amazing!_ Time for the finale! He could do it!

The sickening cracks and snaps of breaking and reforming bone reverberated throughout the room. The skeleton’s face shuddered, blade-like teeth pushing up against each other before pushing out into a muzzle with violent, uneven surges. As the skeleton’s body bulked up, his clothes gave little resistance before shredding, helped along by the spikes along his spine and elbows.

Internally, the skeleton was glad the special costume Sean made for him worked as intended - every part of it except the shorts (didn’t want to bump the film’s rating up!) was designed to rip apart easily. He wondered if Sean and Jerid did a lot of ‘werecreature’ films…? At any rate, he could ask them later.

Papyrus’ demonic, beastly appearance accentuated the pure evil his character was supposed to be at this point. He smirked, eyes glowing like the flames of hell itself… In a deep, distorted voice, he hissed his last line. “Your friends died excruciating deaths… but I won’t be so merciful with- GRK!!”

SNAP! A yowl escaped from both Chris and the Blaster’s throat as the boy was dropped to the ground. The gut-wrenching transformation continued, now completely against Papyrus’ will.

The skeleton’s hands stretched out and warped, his thumbs shrinking into a useless dewclaw while his other claws extended and curved. His shoulders trembled before snapping forward, forcing his forelegs in front of his chest.

His torso continued to barrel out, the weight slowly starting to force him forward. Papyrus was struggling to remain upright, his mutating body drenched with sweat.

“sToP… wON’T… stOpp…”

With another crack, his body’s structure was no longer capable of supporting a bipedal position. His shorts joined the rest of his clothes as tatters.

A massive dragon stared down Chris, slowly approaching the actor. The boy tried to flee, but compared to its speed, he was disappointingly slow. Before he had even taken a single step, it had pounced on him!

“CHRIS!” Frisk, Asriel, and Sans rushed to the teen’s aid, weapons at the ready… before facefaulting.

“Ahaha…! Noooo… stop! I’m ticklish~” The only danger the boy was in was being slightly sticky and smelly for the rest of the afternoon - he was currently under attack by wave after wave of puppy kisses.

* * *

“Say, Sans…”

“What’s up, Ralsei?”

“Just Ral.”

After calming the excited ‘Pupyrus’ down, Sans and Ral decided to take the beast back to his brother’s place. The dragondog happily trotted along beside them, no need for a leash.

“Could you please explain to me what exactly happened back there?”

“Sure. You know how my bro and I can transform, right?”

“Yes. Into bone dragons, correct?”

“Heh, close. We transform _from_ dragons _into_ relatively weak humanoid skeletons to blend in with society. Our natural animal instincts are repressed, too. Because of this, sometimes, extremely rarely, if we haven’t used our true forms in a while… the reversion happens forcefully, and our minds are forced into a primal state.”

“Gosh, that sounds terrible! Is it painful?”

The half-Blaster shook his head. “It’s just embarrassing, being animal-minded for a while. Papyrus described feral me as being the pet cat he never knew he didn’t want.”

Ral held back a snicker.

“No need to be polite, I think it’s hilarious too! I could show you some blackmail pictures he took later.”

“Maybe. How about Papyrus?”

Sans came to a stop at his house and leaned against the wall. “I dunno. He’s almost never been feral. But seeing him act like this… I feel it’s best for me not to have extended periods of contact with him, or else I might join in. Seeing one of my ‘kin’ like this makes my instincts overpowering. We’ve never both been feral at the same time, but I don’t want to find out what happens if we are.”

He unlocked the door and opened it. “Can you wait here with Papyrus? I need to look for something.”

“Sure.”

The skeleton went through the hallway into his brother’s room and opened the drawer. Papyrus wrote instructions for himself on what to do whenever Sans went feral. They were both Gasterblaster beasts, so it could apply to this scenario as well, right? He took the sheet of paper out from the drawer. “Sweet! Found it!”

No sooner had those words left his muzzle than something hit him from the side, soaking him from head to toe with water. _What the- where’d a water bomb come from…?_ He looked down at his claws. “Aw, crap.” The page was soaked past the point of legibility!

He ran to the open window just in time to see an orange tail disappear around the corner.

* * *

Mettaton slowly applauded, his otherwise beautiful features twisted into a smug, arrogant smirk. “Fabulously done, Burgerpants! See? You CAN do things right!”

The feline’s tail flicked. “My name is Gale! I’ve told you seventeen times already!”

“Pfft, whatever. Burgerpants, Gale, I don’t care. You actually did your job. Thanks to you taking away that document, that little boy and his stupid horror movie – our only competition in this town – will fail. The victor of this movie competition will be I, Mettaton! Burgerpants! Keep watching them, even if it means not sleeping a wink! Do it for the sake of beautiful movies everywhere!”

“How the hell am I supposed to do that!? It’s literally impossible for anyone to stay up that long!”

“You do have my MTT-brand coffee, right?”

“It’s still impossible to stay focused!”

The bird-like monster accompanying them, silent until now, decided to speak up. “Aren’t you a robot? You can stay awake and focused as long as you want!”

“You’re right, Berdy! Aren’t you a smart cookie? I’m so amazing, that fact slips from my mind!”

All that prize money and exposure belonged to _him_! Oh… and the others, he supposed.

* * *

“Uh…”

“Er…”

Ral’s parents couldn’t help but stare at the strange blend between a dog and a dragon sitting across from them. The beast didn’t notice any of this, continuing to levitate food into its massive maw using blue magic. All the goat boy could do was force an awkward grin.

“…So _how_ long did you say it will be here for?”

“Just a week, at the most! Don’t worry, he’s very tame! Everything will be okay!” _Or so I hope…_ Sans told him that the skeletons could only revert to their humanoid forms if focusing… and with Papyrus animal-minded, how would he be able to do that? And on top of that, filming that last scene would be an issue… If they passed the deadline, the entire town’s hard work would go to waste. What to do…? If only the page wasn’t soaked!

The skeleton in question let out a bark of gratitude, having finished his meal. For being a giant feral monster barely able to fit through the door, he sure was a neat eater – his part of the table had even less mess than Ral’s!

* * *

Somehow, Ral managed to squeeze Papyrus into his room. There was _just_ enough space for the high school student to sit at his desk.

Ral’s upperclassman didn’t seem to mind being in a cramped room – the same blank, dog-like smile remained on his face, and his tail was still slowly wagging. The goat boy stared deep into the Blaster’s eye sockets. “Can you really not understand me?”

No response. Papyrus didn’t acknowledge his words. He just stared back with a grin.

“…Would you like more food?”

Nothing.

 _Okay, then… Time for a tried-and-true technique…_ ”Would you like a hundred dollars?”

Papyrus sniffed at the wad of bills being dangled in front of his face, but made no other response, verbal or nonverbal.

Ral puts his money away, frowning. At least he tried. “You can sleep on the floor there. I’ve already prepared some cushions.”

The friendly beast sat in response to the boy pointing, but he didn’t lie down.

Maybe he wanted to pass the time for now? Ral took out a small ball and rolled it gently along the floor, expecting Papyrus to fetch it and bring it back. But to his surprise, rather than pick it up, the dragon’s tail lashed around like a whip and knocked it straight back into Ral’s hand! The game continued for a while… until half an hour had passed.

 _I guess he’ll just do his own thing for now… in that case, I’ll work on some song covers until he falls asleep._ He leaned towards his laptop mic and started to sing. “Yes my sweet, yes my sweetest~ I wanna get back where you are~ Take me back into your arms, oh once again…”

“Arooooo…”

Ral flinched at the foreign noise, but relaxed just as quickly when he realised the source. Papyrus was howling along to the tune.

* * *

_Two days remain_

It wasn’t until forty-five minutes after Ral got up – after he had had gotten dressed and finished his cereal, that he realised something was wrong. “Where’d Papyrus go!?” How on Earth did someone as large as the beast escape without waking him up? How did he even open the door!?

Now that he was fully awake, he noticed the giant trail of claw marks on the floor leading out of the entrance. As he started to follow the lead, something about the door caught his eye. _The lock’s been picked…? And what’s this glitter…?_ Well, those questions could wait for later. Who knew what Papyrus was doing right now?

* * *

Ral tracked down the skeleton to Sans’ house – the door here was also unlocked, a strange sprinkling of glitter on the ground in front of it. When the goat burst in and saw what was going on, his worst fears… weren’t confirmed, but the situation was still pretty bad.

The sight before him wouldn’t be out of place in a dog park. But unfortunately, being inside a house, it was causing hundreds of dollars in property damage.

Another ugly gouge was carved into the couch as Papyrus used it to springboard away. Sans, a wild, yet playful glint in his eyes, continued his pursuit on all fours, elongating tail knocking over the fruit bowl. The two were playfighting, it seemed, taking turns to chase each other around the house.

Sans’ prediction from earlier was completely right - Papyrus’ behaviour WAS drawing out the animal within his older brother. As he engaged in this playfight, his bones kept shifting and growing, the skeleton oblivious to the changes. His clothes started to become tight, transforming body about to burst out from within. Bulges appeared in the fabric, indicating spikes about to jut out.

Ral felt his heart beat quicken at the sight of the skeleton’s increasingly frightening, bestial face. If he fully transformed…! “H-hey! Sans! Snap out of it!”

Just like Papyrus, no response.

 _Am I already too late…?_ The boy’s mind and body threatened to go blank and freeze up respectively… but that itself spurred a memory. Whenever the tension got to him, to bring himself back to reality, all he needed to do was…!

In a flash, Ral took off towards the fridge. He winced as he banged his foot on a fallen chair, narrowly avoiding tripping. That was also a problem - completely focusing on one thing meant that other things were shut out. Not allowing himself to delay any further, he ripped open the door, grabbed the nearest cold liquid he saw, and splashed it all over Sans.

The near-Blaster instantly stopped in his tracks! Balanced on a bench as he was, he instantly tumbled to the ground. “Rrrrrr… Ral? W-whyyyy…?” He tried to rub the back of his head as he got up, but pain spiked in his arms and cut the attempt short. His arms were already fixed in a quadrupedal state!

Now that he had the opportunity to observe his own body, Sans realised how close a call it was. He couldn’t stand stably without leaning forward, and it felt like his clothes were one step away from being reduced to shreds. And his voice… it was barely possible to speak, a Blaster’s vocalisations more suited for roaring and growling.

Putting an arm against the wall for support, he noticed something even more important. His hands had been distorted into things that made finer dexterity impossible - his thumbs had shrunk, well on their way to becoming dewclaws, and the other fingers had stretched out into rigid shapes. They weren’t completely useless yet, but… at any rate, Sans was glad he was the director and not the cameraman.

* * *

“Okay, Papyrus! You want this delicious, juicy steak? Come get it~!” Asriel waved the tantalising morsel right next to the camera. The obvious intent was for the beast to lunge at it, giving a punchy end to the film… but of course, nothing was that simple.

Papyrus, ever the well-behaved ‘dog’, politely trotted up to the meat and snapped it up in his jaws.

“Cut…” Sans growled.

Chara clicked his tongue, lowering his camera. “This is getting ridiculous… it’s the twenty-third take, and we haven’t made a bit of progress!”

No matter what the crew did, they couldn’t make the animal-minded Papyrus behave according to their script. Verbal commands were out of the question, and no matter how much he was coaxed physically, he stayed nice and friendly.

Suzy decided to step in, brushing her hair out of her eyes. “Awright, clearly we’re not getting anywhere. Time to force the savage beast out…”

“S-Suzy!? Where’d you get that metal bat from?”

“Found it in the prop room! Now, chew on THIS! _**RUDE BUSTER**_!” An ethereal aura flaring up around the bat, the lizard girl swung it at the dragon, and…!

_BOING!_

“That’s a fake one,” Sean chuckled from the back of the room, not looking away from his smartphone.

“Then, how about this!? _**SPADE KNUCKLE**_!” For someone of his build, Lance was fast. In fact, he was the star of the school in athletics competitions. But unfortunately for him, Papyrus was faster. He dodged, the attack not even scraping him! The hooded student kept going and collided with the wall, opening up a sizable hole. “Oops…”

Not wanting to be left out of the ‘calling out attacks’ chain, Chris grabbed a metal chair and swung it at where Papyrus had dodged to! “My turn! _**METAL CHAIIIIIR**_!”

 _CLANG!_ “W-what the…!?” Of all the times for the crew member to walk in, and of all the places for Papyrus to dodge to…!

The makeshift weapon hit something, alright… It hit Jerid. The horned monster dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Noel attempted to continue the attack, unfazed by the collateral damage. “I’ve got an idea!” She reached into her backpack and produced a handgun. _Dad always said never to use it unless you’ve thought three times about the consequences… and I have!_

A furry hand grabbed her arm, and the weapon was snatched away from her. “Noel, no!” 

Ral fiddled with it, then pointed it at Papyrus. “…You have to turn the safety off first, see?”

“ENOUGH!” Before the goat could pull the trigger, the gun flew out of his hands! It hovered in the air next to Sans, encased in a blue glow. When he busted out the telekinesis, it was a clear sign that he was serious.

The skeleton aimed at the side of his own head and pulled the trigger. The kids cringed as a loud bang tore through the air… but Sans wasn’t even scratched. “Bullets… don’t even scrrraaatch.”

“Then what do YOU think we should do?”

“Ideaaa… didn’t want, but… have to, for film. Neeeeed to go… find something.”

* * *

“Um… Sans? Why are we in the park?”

“Long story. Left Underground, wanted to bury past… “ The skeleton had improved at speaking in the unnatural, distorted form he was stuck with. As long as he kept it succinct, he could avoid any slurring that made him sound more eerie than he already was. “Bro didn’t want to hide. Compromise: buried Dad’s research here.”

“I see…”

Ral glanced at the less-lucid Blaster trotting by his side. Thank goodness Papyrus was always prepared for situations like these.

The three stopped in the middle of one of the grassy areas. Sans dropped to all fours and sniffed at the ground, before nodding at his companion. “Dig time.” Ral had many fond memories of community picnics and barbecues together there… to think that there would be dangerous research hidden beneath that very ground.

Sans’ near-paws, almost useless as hands, were very efficient at clearing away the soil. Ral just sort of stood awkwardly at the side. He wanted to help the skeleton brothers out, which was why he chose to accompany Sans… but without anything to do, felt kind of redundant. Granted, he COULD watch over Papyrus, but that was just because he had to bring him along in the first place.

The awkward atmosphere only hung over them for minutes, but it felt like an eternity to the goat boy. Finally, Sans’ claws hit a metallic case. “Found it. Can you open it? …Ral?”

“Huh? I mean, yes, of course!” His face burned with embarrassment, as he clenched his fists hard. He didn’t want to actively hold his friends back! Not on top of being unhelpful already!

Within the opened box was an old laptop. Going off how clunky it looked, Ral estimated it to be from one or two decades ago. “Awesome! I’ll power it on, and-” _SLAM!_

If it weren’t for Ral’s quick reflexes, Sans slamming the lid shut with his tail would have taken off the tips of the goat’s fingers. “Go away,” the beast snarled.

“W-what?” _Oh god I knew it he thinks I’m useless I can’t do anything right I-_

“Not you, Ral. You, bird behind the tree.”

A sharpened bone soared at the scenery! A masked, hooded figure emerged, effortlessly dodging the attack. He looked about Ral’s height, or slightly taller. But the giant metallic cannon he was carrying, coupled with the way he carried himself, made the goat feel far smaller.

He aimed the weapon, and the boy instantly realised what he was trying to do. “No…!” Ral threw his body on top of the case, shielding the contents with his life.

“Foolish toothpaste boy! This is a special, magic-enhanced EMP cannon! It’ll just go straight through your body and fry the laptop!”

“Really!? Thanks for telling us!” Mustering all his strength, Ral hurled the case into the air! The invisible, computer frying pulse that the cannon let loose just barely missed its mark.

“Tch… Bet you think you’re soooo clever right now!” _Those idiots! I can easily just aim my cannon again!_ The masked man could fry the thing before it came back down. Even if they tried to stop him by attacking directly, the cannon’s pulses travelled that distance faster than people could run! The cannon was customised with magic so that the pulses took relatively longer to travel (the speed of a bullet rather than the speed of light), but even one touch would completely destroy electronics.

However, this time, before the laptop was hit, a blue glow forced it towards the ground. Sans wrapped his arms around it as he took off. “Run, Ral!”

The two sprinted away as fast as their legs could! Each time the masked man fired his gun, one simply passed the case to the other. Even though the EMP gun was so powerful, Ral and Sans were just one step ahead! _Youuuu… you’re making a fool of meeee…!_

Papyrus was there too, following along with his tail wagging. He must have thought they were playing.

The masked man smirked. Bringing that dumb mutt along would be their downfall! He fired an EMP at Sans, who, as predicted, threw the case towards Ral.

But while the laptop was in mid-air, something much faster than the cannon – so fast, in fact, it broke the sound barrier, slammed into it.

Ral’s eyes bugged out. “Feathers!?” The case spiralled off-course, towards the feral-minded skeletal beast, who had risen onto his hind legs to catch it in his mouth. _No! It’ll be an easy target!_

“I’ve won! Take this!”

“PAPYRUS!” Ral summoned a fireball – the lowest heat possible so it wouldn’t do any harm – and launched it at the dragon, just as the case fell. Everything went into slow motion, his thoughts a panicked slurry of ‘Will I make it? Will this work? What will happen if it doesn’t? How will I take responsibility?’

Those last two questions didn’t have to be answered. Papyrus dropped back to all fours and knocked the fireball back! With it came the laptop case! The masked man, completely unprepared for this scenario, was caught off-guard, stunned by this outcome.

A brief moment – just a single instant of flinching was enough for Sans to make his move! A blunt bone javelin soared at the foe’s head. He wasn’t just knocked out – he was knocked into next week! The mysterious figure flew far, like a home run at a professional baseball tournament. _Oops…_ Sans only realised then that he might have underestimated his strength in this form. But at least like this, the documents were safe.

He walked over to Ral, who already had the laptop case open. Thank God it was an old Nokia-level device… it wasn’t damaged from their battle at all. “Ral, password is… ‘legendary fartmaster’.”

The boy’s face lit up as the screen did. “I’m in! Let’s see…” Ral flicked through the several documents, brow furrowed. “Hmm… there’s nothing about changing Blaster beasts back to normal… but there _is_ something to make them more… suitable for the movie.”

“How?”

“It says here: ‘Although the subjects are sapient for convenience and practicality, there is a ‘switch’ that can be flipped to unleash their true nature as weapons. In order to send them into a fearsome, battle-ready state, a special material is needed.’”

“Which is…?”

“Something just under our noses! It’s genius, really! It’s abundant, but the specific form is uncommon unless we’re deliberately looking for it. It’s gold flakes!”

* * *

_One day remains_

_Can-Do Studios, early morning_  

Mettaton glared at the studio before him, more disgust on his face than someone looking at rotten meat. He tightened his grip on the containers of liquid in his hands.

“H-hey… Mettaton… isn’t this going a bit too far?”

“Of course not, you fool! After the gigantic screw-up you made with losing the case, this is the _only_ way! Money is at stake – and more importantly, my beautiful exposure to the world!”

* * *

Chris was no longer on the set – because of the potential risk involved, they replaced the actual ‘Kris’ with a convincing replica. Well… it was convincing from behind, anyway… It was actually just a lamp Sean and Jerid put a wig, clothes, and paint on, before leaving.

So the rest of the crew wouldn’t be potentially endangered, only Sans, Chara, Napstablook, Asriel, Frisk, and Ral were present in the studio. Everything was set up. Everyone (except Papyrus, of course) was on edge. There was only one chance – one shot – to get this right.

Papyrus was led to in front of the replica. Asriel readied the custom party popper he put the shaved gold in. He aimed it in Papyrus’ direction, ready to summon a barrier once he was driven into a frenzy. Make him berserk, film the thing, then restrain him until he exhausted himself. That was simple.

The bone beast looked up at Asriel innocently, tail wagging slightly. The Boss Monster would have felt bad doing this… if it weren’t for the immense money at stake and hours of work potentially wasted. His grip tightened on the string…

 _FWOOSH!_ As sudden as the strike of lightning, flames roared from around the corner! Asriel flinched, his aim jerking sideways as the material was let loose! The shaved gold tumbled out of the container… and right in _Sans’_ direction!

The effect was instantaneous. Sans dropped to all fours as the last of his rational mind left him! His clothes shredded, torn to bits by the spikes that emerged from his body. A terrifying dragon quickly emerged in his place. It was identical in physical appearance to the beastly Papyrus… but the crazed look in its eye, coupled with its tensed, aggressive stance and snarl, reminded everyone there just how dangerous the skeleton brothers could be.

Before Asriel knew it, he was pinned against the wall. “Shit…!” He didn’t even have time to set up a barrier! Fuelled by adrenaline, the young man drew his Chaos Sabres, but Sans was too fast for him – the dragon’s tail whipped around and knocked them out of his hands. They disappeared into the growing flames.

“Asriel! You disgusting rat…! Let him go!” Chara and Napstablook rushed towards their friend, but a wall of flame sprung up between them and blocked the way. _Damn it! What is this stuff!?_ A liquid was spreading along the floor, bringing the flames with it. _Gasoline!?_ Someone was actively trying to kill them! But who!? The two had no choice but to run farther into the building, lest they be incinerated.

Ral and Frisk were both pulling Sans with all their strength, but the beast just wouldn’t budge. A light started to quickly gather in its maw… but when it fired, the laser completely missed its mark.

Sans tumbled to the floor, but quickly got back to his feet. Standing between the staff and feral monster… was none other than Papyrus! A clarity that only a sapient being could have shone in the Gasterblaster’s eyes.

Blue-white light tore open a path between them and outside, erasing flames and walls in its wake. Papyrus pointed with his tail and barked. They couldn’t understand him like this, but they should have got the message! The goats and human ran through the escape route. But Sans was quick to follow, ready to run them through with either his horns or claws.

A bone attack to the back of the head snapped the monster’s attention back to Papyrus. The younger Blaster braced himself as his feral brother approached. _I see… So this is like the wolf, goat, and cabbage problem._ Chara and Napstablook were still in the building. He had to save them. But Sans was still feral-minded, and if he was left alone, he’d almost certainly kill the others outside. Therefore…!

Papyrus let out the most fearsome roar he could, and fired a laser, precisely aimed so that it would slightly miss Sans.

The beast rolled out of the way and lunged forward, letting loose with a laser of his own!

Of course, the younger, cognizant Blaster saw it coming from a mile away. By the time Sans had completed his manoeuvre, he had already turned tail and started to flee into the building, running through the flames. He only stopped occasionally to throw a light bone attack at his brother – all he had to do was keep Sans’ attention on him.

The smoke was horrible, blocking his sense of smell. However, his hearing picked up the soft sobs of Napstablook, so he could use that as a tool to track Chara and Napstablook down. As the cries got louder, the ceiling began to quake. Sans’ laser had really done a number on it… but if Papyrus worked quickly, this might actually be for the better.

Chara and Napstablook were huddled together, the latter crying a literal river. Tears flowed from his eyes, keeping the flames at bay, but they were losing the war. Sans was approaching from behind, and the ceiling was about to cave in… that left only one option for Papyrus.

A bone attack stabbed into Sans’ torso from the side, pinning him against the wall. It would only hold him for a few seconds, but that was enough. Papyrus took a deep breath, bracing himself… _Chara, Napstablook… sorry if this hurts!_ < ** _MAXIMUM OUTPUT!_** > A massive laser, containing all the energy he could muster, erupted from his maw! At the same time, Papyrus threw himself backwards with all his might! The living cannonball rammed into the two, sending all three hurtling out of the building just as it collapsed.

* * *

_One week later_

In the end, Frisk’s movie, _The Hellbeast of Hometown_ won by a landslide.

The surprise plot twist at the end where the prison caught fire and Papyrus had to save everyone was a great touch – demonstrating that it was possible to turn around a situation, even when it seemed all was lost.

When Frisk read the review, he wiped the sweat off his brow with an audible “Whew!”. Asriel’s amazing editing skills managed to save the day after all!

The immense prize money was distributed equally to each of the major crew members, but Frisk insisted on using his to pay Jerid and Sean back for property damages to their studio, as well as Sans’ hospital bill.

Even though Mettaton’s group (who were now in jail) was the one who started it, they only did it because Frisk and company were filming there. Therefore, the human decided to be the one who would take responsibility – his conscience was too noisy like that.

In the end, there was only enough left for a nice dinner with friends. Frisk decided to go to the most extravagant restaurant in town – that fancy, high-class one he always wanted to visit.

Both Frisk’s invitees looked at their menus with concern. Ral looked like he was reading a horror novel, whereas Papyrus let out a soft whine at the sight of the prices. “I-is this really okay?”

“It is! Ral, thank you so much for taking care of Papyrus while he was stuck like that.”

“And Papyrus. We’re all in your debt. This is the _least_ I can do for you!”

With that, the group ordered their food. Unsurprisingly, both Papyrus and Ral went for the least expensive (although still an arm and a leg by normal people standards) option on the menu. Frisk, not wanting to be rude, decided to do the same. After a few more minutes of pleasant chatting, three burgers arrived.

Papyrus took a bite, ripping a chunk off with his fangs and swallowing it. “This taste…! It’s amazing!! The best thing I’ve ever had in my whole life! I feel so energised, as if my whole body is swelling with energy! What’s in it?”

The waiter puffed out his chest proudly. “I’m happy you’re enjoying it. It contains crisp gourmet lettuce, slices from the juiciest tomatoes of Ebott City, a generous amount of melted cheese, our secret special sauce, and a patty from the most quality of cows in the world… Also, for the aesthetic, the patty is coated in gold flakes.”

It was at that point that Papyrus decided: the restaurant having to deal with Blaster upchuck on the floor was better than a wild beast being let loose on the city.

* * *

_Contents of the recovered document_

IMPORTANT!! DO NOT LOSE!

If Sans or I become a feral animal, it is very important to follow these instructions carefully!

  1. First and foremost: keep it well-fed! A hungry Blaster is not what anyone needs!
  2. Stop it from getting into any dangerous situations. It cannot think like a human or monster, so letting it out of supervision could cause many problems. I personally recommend finding a game to play to keep it distracted.
  3. A pattern I noticed: it normally goes away on its own eventually, but this quickens the process. If you manage to remind a Blaster of its life as a person – its triumphs, its hobbies, its bonds… its memories will return.




End file.
